Becoming a Legend
by IcyD3
Summary: Sometimes, even the simplest of goals are driven by the most unrelenting wills. This was one such instance. Bale simply desired to become an unforgettable legend; an existence that would always be remembered. To do that, he would reach the top, even if it meant slaughtering everyone else around him. Afterall, he didn't need to be a hero, only a legend.


The entrance to the Tower of God: an enormous pair of doors that was rumored to contain unimaginable monsters, dangers, as well as any man's dream. Before this door was a lone, young man, draped in rags. The only noticeable thing about this man was the 5-foot long chunk of steel on his back, roughly in the shape of a club.

This man went by the name of Bale.

'It's here, there's no doubt about it, this is where I must be.'

Years after years of aimless wandering, yet Bale still hadn't found a way to mark his existence; a way to forever remind the world of his accomplishments. Yet some alien feeling tugged at his heart to investigate this place, and once he had arrived, he knew this was where he could make his mark, by any means.

Bracing himself, Bale put his hands on the door and started to push with all his might. He pushed and pushed, yet the door wouldn't seem to budge. His muscles were already starting to wail from the strain, but Bale couldn't care less. In frustration, he started to scream his lungs out.

"OPEN UP! DAMN YOU, OPEN UP ALREADY!" He roared with all his might.

Unbeknownst to Bale, two black arms sprouted out of the struggling man's back and slammed against the doors of the Tower. The doors suddenly gave way, swinging wide open and causing Bale to fall forward onto the ground. Deciding not to think about how he was suddenly able to get in, Bale simply counted his blessings and dragged himself past the entrance and onto the first floor of the tower.

* * *

Bale finally collapsed, taking in deep breaths in an attempt to recover a bit. As he laid on the ground recuperating, he heard a voice ahead of him.

"Why hello there, irregular, it's been some time since someone was able to forcefully open the doors of the Tower" The voice stated.

Bale looked up, it was a bipedal being with a head that resembled a sort of rabbit. The most noticeable thing about this alien-like rabbit was that it carried a staff that had small turquoise balls on each end.

"And who might you be?" Bale said in between breaths.

"My name is Headon, I am the guardian of the first floor. May I ask for your name?"

Bale felt renewed energy at those words "The name's Bale, those were some pretty sturdy doors you had back there."

"Indeed, they were made to keep people like you from entering. What is it you desire? Money, power, immortality? Headon inquired.

"What I desire? Oh nothing much, just a chance to forever etch my existence into this world." Bale said with a grin.

"Hmm, an unusual yet very simplistic goal. Such a thing can definitely be found at the top." Headon said as he pointed upwards with his staff.

"Then enough chit chat, I'll start my climb from here." Bale said as he rose.

Headon narrowed his eyes "Very well, then we shall begin with your first test."

Headon then spoke some indecipherable words while a glow emanated from his staff. Immediately a tall imposing figure appeared in a flash of light. It turned out to be a knight, completely covered in armor. It also so happened that this knight was 8 feet tall, a towering figure, even compared to Bale who stood at an impressive 6'2.

Bale sized up the new figure. "A 1 on 1 duel? Seems pretty simple"

"Not quite." Headon said, "There is a cloth stuck behind this knight's neck, remove it and you shall win."

Bale once again looked at the knight and indeed, there was a small cloth sticking out from behind the knight's neck.

"Alright, a little unusual, but that makes it even easier."

Headon's eyes gained an unusual glint, which went unnoticed by Bale. "We shall see, the match will begin as soon as you attack."

"Sounds good" Bale said as he dashed towards the knight, however instead of attacking with his club, he moved around the knight and attempted to remove the cloth.

"Heh, what an easy te-huh?" The cloth wouldn't budge, he gave the cloth a harsh tug with his free hand but it didn't move an inch.

"Sorry, but it would be rather unfortunate if my tests were that easy" Headon stated with a chuckle.

"Indeed, you'll find such an action to have been a mistake."

Before Bale could utter a response, the knight suddenly turned around with unnatural speed, unhinging Bale's grip from the cloth in the process, and smashed Bale's face with it's fist. Bale was launched to the wall of the tower, cracking the walls from the force the impact.

"What the hell?" Bale thought as he slowly pushed himself off of the wall.

'Should've known it wouldn't be that easy, oh well.'

Surprisingly, Bale had still held onto his weapon. Gripping it tightly, he charged at the knight who was now slowly marching towards him. Upon entering striking distance, Bale immediately pivoted his body, smashing his club into the knight's head with all his accumulated force.

A resounding boom echoed throughout the room as the mace impacted the knight's head, stopping the knight in it's place. Bale lowered his mace with a small smirk.

"I gotcha this time Mr. Knight, now for the clot-" Bale suddenly choked on his words as the knight stirred.

The knight had resumed its march as if nothing had happened. As it got within it's own striking distance, it suddenly grabbed Bale's surprised face and proceeded to slam him into the ground, and then again, and again, then it switched tactics, mechanically smashing Bale's already battered body with it's iron fists.

'Ugh, if I can't even handle a few punches, then I don't deserve to be a legend!' Bale thought as he tried with all his will to resist succumbing to unconscious. As if reacting to Bale's undying will, black bones appeared around Bale's body like a second skin, for a second, and then disappeared as soon as they came. However, the effects were already clear. With a sudden agility, Bale suddenly rolled out of the knight's punches. He then jumped onto it's open back and locked his legs around the knight's neck. Hanging on tight, Bale proceeded to pull on the cloth with all his might.

'Yes! It's coming loose I can feel it, just a little more.' He thought with glee.

However, by this point the knight had recovered and was trying to knock Bale off by continually smashing itself against a wall.

But Bale didn't budge an inch. Amidst a broken and bloody body, Bale still willed himself to pull out the cloth. With a final tug, the pesky cloth finally came loose and with that, the knight stopped as well. It then started to fall apart, the cloth apparently having been it's power source.

Bale slid off the crumbling knight, his body finally succumbing to the damage that had been dealt to it.

The last thing Bale saw was the unearthly glint in Headon's eyes.

"That was quite an interesting ability there Mr. Bale, I wonder if you even realize what you contain…"

"Truly, you will make great changes in this chaotic place. Bale, I sincerely welcome you to the Tower"

After speaking those words, Headon proceeded to heal Bale back to full health using shinsoo. He then sent Bale to the next floor, all the while pondering what he would do for the next test.

"Well, if I remember correctly, it is that time of the season for steel eels…" Headon mused to himself as looked at the remains of the knight.

* * *

Bale slowly awoke to bright rays of sunlight shining down on him.

'Sunlight? Where am I?' Bale thought to himself. Slowly he rose up and was astonished to find himself completely healed. However, before he could ponder even more questions that swirled in his head, he was interrupted by a voice coming from an odd floating box.

" **Mic test! Mic test! 1, 2, 3! Can everyone hear me~?"** Came a sing-song voice.

" **Hello!"** The voice greeted **"Welcome to the 2nd floor of the Tower, the floor of Tests."**

" **This is Evankhell's floor, and it is designed to see whether you guys are capable of advancing through the rest of the levels of the tower."**

" **So without further ado, let's get into your first test."** It said with unnerving enthusiasm.

"Already? Oh well, least I'm at 100%, probably from that stupid rabbit." Bale mused

" **Your first test is quite simple!"** The voice announced **"There are 400 regulars here, slim that number down to 200 by any means, and the remaining 200 will pass."**

" **You may begin."**

"Heh, now we're talking my language." Bale spoke with a grin. Hoisting up his make-shift club with a grunt, he started to walk off in a random direction. After a small distance, Bale came upon an unusual sight. In front of him stood a massive creature that had eight eyes in a seemingly perfect line around it's head. It either didn't seem to notice Bale, or if it did, it couldn't have cared less.

That didn't sit very well with Bale, if there was one thing he didn't like, it was being ignored.

'I guess I could make an example out of you.' Bale thought with a smirk.

Leaping up to eye level with the creature, Bale twisted bringing his club right into the side of the creature's face. This time around, a loud squelch was heard rather than a boom. Bale's club had caved in half of the creature's face in, with blood and brain matter erupting out from the other side. The creature then toppled over, the body being unable to withstand the force of Bale's swing.

'Huh, guess this thing wasn't as tough as that crazy knight.' Bale thought to himself with mild surprise.

With the creature having toppled over, Bale took notice of a boy that had apparently stood in front of the creature. The boy looked totally out of his place with gentleman-like clothing and obvious aura of innocence that surrounded him. Even his awkward stance with his black sword showed how little experience he had actually using that weapon.

"Seriously? There's actually people like him around here..." Bale mumbled to himself with a sigh.

Strolling by the boy who was frozen in place due to having witnessed such a sudden and brutal murder. Bale tapped him on the shoulder, causing him to flinch and bring himself out of his trance.

"Better watch out kid, other people won't hesitate doing the same thing to you, I would hide if I were you." Bale stated to the boy.

The boy didn't say anything, but now he looked more anxious and scared than ever.

'Oops, maybe I'm scaring him too much. Come on Bale, try to be more casual.' He mentally chastised himself. After all, he needed someone to start spreading half-decent legends about himself.

"Try to not get yourself killed out there, kiddo." Bale said with a wave as he walked off into the distance.

The boy was too dumbfounded at the man's nonchalant attitude to respond. By the time the boy had recovered, Bale was long gone. Just as he was about to chase after him, he was greeted by a blue-haired boy.

* * *

As Bale continued on his leisure stroll through the bloody fields filled with screams and warcries, crushing the head of any poor soul who got in his way, a familiar voice made itself heard over the area.

His attention turned upwards as he heard the voice come through the same odd box.

" **Alright, everyone please halt your actions, the first part of the test is now over!"**

" **Congratulations to those still breathing. We will now begin the second part of the test!"** The voice continued in a pleasant tone oblivious to the tense atmosphere.

" **Don't worry, it is quite simple and easy. For the remaining 200 regulars, you will have 5 minutes to find two other people to make a team with. By the end of the 5 minutes, you must maintain physical contact with both teammates in order to pass. Failure to do so, will result in a fail."** Then with a pause, the voice concluded with:

" **That is all, good luck~"** The voice concluded with it's usual jovial tone.

'Only 5 minutes eh? Better find some people quickly.' Bale thought to himself as he peered into the surrounding distance, his height allowing him to look over the tall grass.

'There!'

Bale took notice of a redheaded male casually sitting on a mound of defeated opponents. Approaching him was another male with a red beanie covering his head. However, just as he was about to run towards them, he noticed a small creature zooming towards them from a distance.

"Oh no you don't, you little shit." Bale thought as he dashed off in the creature's direction to intercept it.

* * *

'Today was definitely a good day.' ChungChung happily thought to himself.

Not only had he managed to avoid any major encounters thanks to his small stature and quick speed, but now he was about to make a team with two powerful-looking teammates. With these two powerhouses at his side, passing through the rest of this floor would be a piece of cake.

"Hahaha, this couldn't get any better!" ChungChung said to himself, stopping a moment to laugh to himself with glee.

"You're right, it won't." A voice stated

ChungChung flinched in surprise. "Wha-"

That was the last thing the little blond fellow uttered before he was sent careening away with a batter's strike from Bale.

"Homerun, motherfucker!" Bale shouted with a laugh.

Having destroyed the threat to his success, Bale headed over to his two soon-to-be teammates. As he got close enough for the two to take notice of his presence he decided to initiate with a conversation.

"Seems like you two need a third member, mind if I joined in." Bale said casually

While the red-haired male simply nodded, the other member replied just as casually.

"Of course, you look like you can handle yourself, though those rags might need a change." he told Bale with a chuckle.

For his part, Bale didn't seem the slightest bit fazed by the comment.

"Bah, good clothes will only tear from battle. Rather, I would prefer to find an actual weapon rather than this mangly thing." Bale spoke, lifting up his club for emphasis.

As the two continued to chat with each other, the voice rang overhead:

" **Only 1 more minute left Regulars, better hurry up and find a group!"** The voice spoke.

Hearing this, the newly formed trio gathered around each other. Bale initiated and stuck his fist out.

"Alright, this team seems pretty promising so I'm sure we won't lose a single test from here on out, at least with me around, the names Bale." Bale spoke with a confident grin.

Getting the idea, the man with the red beanie also stuck his fist out, touching part of Bale's knuckles.

"I'm Leeron the 3rd, hope we can all get along nicely." Leeron spoke with a smile.

The final member of the group looked at the two fists with a blank stare. After a pause, he finally put his fist out, completing the ritual.

"...Alexay."

As if on cue, the voice above them whirred, giving the final countdown before sounding off with a beep.

" **Congratulations to all groups that are physically connected! You will now be transported to the next area. See you there~"** The voice spoke.

Just as the voice stated, Bale's group started to glow with a light blue shine before they disappeared with a flash of light.

* * *

A man named Lero Ro hummed to himself in amusement as he watched the spot that Bale's group had just disappeared from.

"Hmm, yet another powerhouse team has emerged, this batch of climbers will be quite interesting." Lero Ro said with a smile. He then rose and walked off to greet the arriving teams.

Lero Ro didn't how true those words would ring.


End file.
